i'll be home
by 00start-of-time00
Summary: Three years after graduation, Lydia finally comes home for Christmas. ONESHOT


**A/N: Hey guys! Merry Christmas! **

**I worked on this for most of the night before Christmas ;) **

**I just thought of this really quickly before Christmas Eve dinner and it kinda just spilled out. It's based off the song "I'll Be Home" by Meghan Trainor (She's bae) I hope you guys like it! **

**Since I'm on break, I'm gonna try and work on this new story that I have planned for you guys! It's all planned out and everything. Stay tuned for it! **

**You guys know the drill! Review/Fav!**

**Love you guys, you're all the best! Happy holidays! :) **

* * *

><p>It had been a few years since Lydia Martin had been home for Christmas. After leaving Beacon Hills, she didn't know who she was or what she was doing anymore; a part of her was missing. So, she thought that maybe coming home would answer all the questions that had been lingering in the back of her head for the last few years.<p>

Lydia didn't know why she never came back home. She loved her mother, and she loved her friends.

She loved Stiles.

She loves Stiles.

Lydia texted Stiles that she was coming back to Beacon Hills for the holidays, but she received no reply.

She had secretly hoped it was because he had changed his number, or because he was just too busy setting up for Christmas Eve celebrations.

But deep down, she knew that he had probably ignored her.

Why wouldn't he? She hadn't spoken to any of them for three years.

He, as well as the rest of the pack, had every right to be resentful towards her.

But just because Lydia was a hopeful person, she texted Scott to let him know as well. His response was more happy and joyful as she had expected. It made up for Stiles' absent reply.

Lydia arrived home on Christmas Eve and received a gigantic hug from not only her mother, but her father too, much to her surprise.

Apparently, her mother phoned her father and told him she was coming back home for Christmas. He had been so surprised yet so happy that he caught the next flight back to Beacon Hills.

"We're glad you're here, sweetie." He had told her.

For the first time in years, Lydia felt like they were acting as a family.

/

After a few more hours catching up with her mother and father, Lydia decided it was time to find her old friends.

Lydia had stopped by Kira's house first.

Kira, being Kira, was happy to see her. Her smile never faded and her hug never loosened.

"Lydia, I'm so glad you're here! Oh my gosh, everyone's missed you! It has been the same since you left! Oh, Lydia, I missed you so much!"

Lydia laughed at her friend's enthusiasm for her presence. It put her in such a good mood that she stopped by Malia's.

"Lydia?"

Oh good. She was surprised to see her too.

"Malia." Malia leaned against the door slightly and smiled.

"I didn't know you were coming back to town," She said. "It's good to see you."

Lydia was minority surprised at the girl's maturity. Stiles must have taught her well.

"It's glad to see you, too."

Malia motioned her to come inside, and Lydia compelled, happy to see a familiar face.

"Are you coming to the Stilinski party tonight?"

Lydia's head snapped up at the mention someone so familiar and shrugged.

"I don't know. I think my parents are going but I don't know if I will." She replied. Malia rolled her eyes and dragged her up the stairs.

"Oh come on. Everyone's going to be there! Kira, Isaac, the Argents, the McCalls…I'm even going. Kira convinced me last night," She explained. "It wouldn't feel the same without you."

Malia looked away.

"It's never felt the same without you."

Lydia raised an eyebrow as she watched Malia pick a few outfits out.

"It never occurred to me that you might have missed me."

Malia smirked as she picked her clothes out.

"I'll be honest, at first, when you left, I was kind of happy. There was no one that was going to interfere with my relationship with Stiles," Lydia tensed up a little at the sound of his name coming out of another girl's mouth. "But it was after you left that I realized that you didn't have to be here for my relationship with him not to work. It was never going to work because he wanted you."

Lydia's eyes widened a little.

Lydia knew of Stiles' childhood crush on her, but she never thought that it would have sustained this much time.

Sure, Lydia had felt… feelings for Stiles, but she never voiced them out because she had always thought it was Malia. She always thought Malia was the one for him.

"Stiles always wanted you. He needed you to feel happy. And so day after day, month after month, I wished, hoped, and prayed that you would come and visit Beacon Hills. For Stiles. Because I knew that once he saw you, his normal self would resurface." Malia told her.

She looked up from her bed and frowned with disappointment.

"But you never did."

Lydia looked away from the girl for a second, processing all this information and closing her eyes, wishing that she had unlearned it.

"But here you are now," Malia said. "You're here now. You have to come to the party. Allison missed you. She never stopped talking about you…I kind of felt bad for Isaac because she wouldn't shut up."

Lydia perked up at the sound of her best friend.

She missed Allison too.

She missed everyone.

Lydia lunged at Malia with a hug and she hugged her for more than she would have three years ago.

"Thank you, Malia."

Malia smiled.

"No problem."

/

Lydia had arrived to the Stilinski house with Malia. They spent the last hour getting ready and catching up. They laughed and laughed at things Lydia did with her free time and the people she had met. They acted like they were childhood friends.

But as they approached the front porch of the Stilinski home, Lydia's stomach began doing flips. Her mouth went dry and her laughing died down as they reached closer and closer to the door.

When Sheriff Stilinski opened the door, his face was priceless. His mouth dropped and he opened his arms out to engulf Lydia in the biggest hug.

"Lydia Martin, I thought you fell of the face of the Earth."

Lydia laughed before pulling away and smiling.

"No, Sheriff, I'm still here and well."

The sheriff grinned and nodded.

"I'm glad to see you," He said. "Stiles is going to be ecstatic when he sees you."

Lydia's heart started to beat faster at the mention of Stiles once again that night.

"Hopefully." She muttered under her breathe as she walked through the door.

The first people she spotted was her parents speaking with Mr. Argent. He met eyes with her, and called for Allison, who happened to be sitting on the couch right behind him with Isaac.

Allison didn't seem to notice her until she stood up and looked in her direction.

She took small steps towards the strawberry blonde, her eyes watering and her hands shivering.

"Lydia?"

Lydia threw herself on her best friend as she let the tears come through. She could feel Allison crying as well, but it didn't matter to her because she was finally reunited with her.

"It's me, Ally. It's me."

Allison nodded into her shoulder and she began to laugh.

"I thought you were coming tomorrow."

They heard Mr. Argent, scoff and begin to laugh as the two girls broke away.

"Of course Allison knew Lydia was coming home for Christmas." Everyone in the room laughed as Allison let go of Lydia to greet everyone else.

Lydia met with many people from the town and reconnected with them.

She spoke with Scott for a few minutes before she actually began to wonder where Stiles was.

They talked about Christmas without her, and she asked about Derek.

He told her that he and Braeden went to go travel the world and track down Peter, but also to just see the world together, and this made Lydia smile.

She asked how school had been for him, and he told her it had been good. He asked the same, and she replied it had been good.

She asked how things were with Kira and he just smiled. And then he asked,

"Aren't you wondering where Stiles is?" He questioned. "I thought you would have mentioned him by now."

He still had the alpha touch. He knew his pack.

Lydia was silent for a moment before nodding. No words were exchanged.

Scott gestured upwards, and Lydia knew what this meant. She gave him a grateful smile before dismissing herself away from the conversation and treading her way upstairs towards the boy's room.

When she reached the room, she found him sitting on his bed, his head in his hands and his fingers gripping his hair tightly.

Lydia knocked softly, a part of her hoping that he didn't even hear her.

But he did, and there was no going back now.

When Stiles looked up, Lydia saw his facial expression jump in surprise and watched as he tried to hide it.

"Lydia!" He exclaimed, his hand running behind his neck. "Uh…I wasn't….I…hi."

She tried to hide her smile, but she failed, and her smile came through.

Stiles found himself staring at her for a long period of time without even realizing it. When he caught himself, he blushed and looked away, hoping Lydia didn't notice.

But she did.

And with all her new knowledge of his feelings, she paid more attention to his facial expressions and his movements.

"I didn't know you were coming."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Coming to your party or coming home?"

Stiles stared at her unafraid, unfazed by her tone.

"To the party. I didn't know you were coming to the party."

Lydia walked slowly towards him, noting how he made extra room for her on the bed. She sat.

"Malia told me about it when I went to go visit her." She told him simply.

Stiles looked at her confused and tilted his head.

"Malia did?"

Lydia just nodded this time. He seemed surprised, but he didn't show it. She would have been surprised if she was in his position as well.

They sat in silence for several minutes, just being in each other's presence for awhile. But Stiles couldn't contain himself as much as he tried, and he just burst.

"Is there a reason why you decided to come back this year? Any specific reason or concern?" He questioned her, slightly angry. "Because the past three years seemed to mean nothing to you. No calls, no texts? Nothing. It was like you just disappeared."

Lydia didn't dare to look up at him because she knew she would break if she did.

She also knew that these were the questions that everyone was dying to ask her, even her own parents. Lydia never talked about what or how she was doing whenever she called them. And they, as well as all her friends, never asked because they wanted to give her some privacy.

But Stiles was different, and she knew that he was going to be the one to ask all the questions because…well, he cared. He wanted to know.

"I just…"

And for months, Lydia didn't even know the answers to these questions. She didn't know why she never came back. She didn't know why she never bothered to call. She didn't know.

And she felt terrible for not knowing.

"For months after graduation, all I wanted to do was get away. Get away from the life that kept holding back, the life I didn't want to have. Because in this life, so many people see me as the crazy girl. The girl who hears the voices and feels when people die," She told him, still not looking at him. "In New York, people…they see me as the girl who's crazy smart and nice. The girl who smiles at everyone and helps people. That's the life I wanted."

Stiles continued look away from her, and he wished that he would just look at her too. Because when she did, he knew that everything would be okay.

"But as I lived longer and longer in that city, I started to realize how fake I was being. In the midst of it all, I lost myself. I didn't know why I was there anymore. I didn't feel like I was complete. I thought coming home would make me understand," She explained. "And I do understand. I need my friends, my family, my pack. The pack was all I needed."

"You couldn't call? You couldn't text? After you left, I went to your mom every week to see if you had told her anything. Every time, she frowned and she said no. You didn't call. You hadn't said anything. After awhile, I just stopped," He said to her. "I felt bad for Malia for the first month or so after you left. She tried really hard to make me happy again, but she failed every time. We argued all the time about you. But finally, she just stopped, and she understood."

Lydia stared at the ground and then looked towards the direction of the door.

"You know, I like to think that I was the one who taught her how to be so mature. But, technically, I didn't. You did. Because after you left, and I became so unhappy, she had to teach herself. I didn't do anything."

Stiles moved closer to her.

"I just wish you called."

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I made you so unhappy and worried and I wish I could take back these three years, but I can't." She exclaimed. "I know I deserve your hatred and your anger because I'm mad at me too. I don't know what came over me. But I regret _everything_. I regret every movie night and every birthday and every Christmas, but you know what? I didn't hear you calling me either! I got calls from Scott, Allison, Kira, and even _Isaac_ but I never got a call from you."

Stiles jumped off his bed and began pacing. His face was getting redder by the minute and it was obvious he was trying to hide it because he covered his face.

"You want to know why I never called?"

Stiles continued to blabber out nonsense that wasn't even making sense to himself. He paced faster and Lydia got up with him, getting slightly scared of him.

"I never called because it _hurt_. It hurt so freaking damn much, Lydia. I missed you so much my heart hurt. I loved you," He said, finally stopping and looking at her. "I love you."

Lydia finally looked up, meeting Stiles' eyes for a millisecond before looking away and attempting to run out the door.

Stiles tried to stop her, and he got in front of her, trying to make her look at him.

"Lydia….Lydia, please look at me." He said.

Lydia couldn't do what he asked.

"Say something, please. Anything. You don't have to say it back, just say something." He pleaded.

She shook her head and ran under his arm to get out of his room.

"Lydia, don't run away from me! Please, just stay! Please!" He begged. Lydia could hear the sadness from his words even when she hopped in her car and drove out of his driveway.

It was too much for her.

It was too much for her to handle in the one night that she got home.

So, she did what she always did.

She ran.

/

Lydia really hoped that her parents wouldn't get too mad that she decided to run away to a college friend's house the day she got back.

At least she didn't just run away without saying something.

She left a post-it note?

When she arrived at Amy's house, her mascara and eyeliner were streaming down her face, and she bet she looked so ugly and terrifying that her friend wouldn't even know it was her.

"Lydia?"

She climbed out of her car and clutched onto her friend, burying her face in her shoulder and sobbing.

"I'm so sorry I came without notice, it was just really late and I didn't know where else to go, you're house is right on the border of Beacon Hills, and I…." Her sentence was broken by a fit of sobs again.

She didn't even know why she was crying so much.

The boy she's loved forever told her that he loved her.

But she ran away to go cry in herself.

"Lydia, baby, what's wrong?"

"I….I just….I…"

She gasped for air frequently and Amy led her inside, placing a cup of hot cocoa in front of her.

"Lydia, breathe."

"He…" Lydia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "He told me he loved me and it was just too much for me in one night. I had to get away."

Amy raised an eyebrow at her as she watched her new friend take a sip of hot chocolate.

"But, I thought before you left we decided that you were going to stop running away from your home troubles."

Lydia sighed and nodded.

"I know we did. But… this is the guy that has had a crush on me since the third grade. I don't know. So much commitment scares me, maybe?" She thought aloud.

Amy took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Or maybe the idea of someone actually loving you scares you. Maybe it has something to do with that Jackson douche?"

Lydia looked down and shrugged, curling her knees up to her body.

"I love him." She stated simply.

Amy almost spit out her hot chocolate and began making big hand gestures that didn't make any sense.

"Say that again!" She exclaimed.

Lydia sighed and closed her eyes as if those words were going to hurt her.

"I love him," She repeated. "I love him, and I didn't tell him."

Amy rolled her eyes obviously and jumped up from her chair.

"So, if you love this guy, why the hell are you here with some dork from your college dorm?"

Lydia let out a big breath, blowing some hair away from her face momentarily.

"I…don't know…"

Amy jumped up again, almost knocking her hot chocolate from the table.

"You need to know, Lydia. Life is too short not to. Life is also too short to sit and wait for more opportunities like these to come again." Amy told her. "You get up your ass and you drive yourself back to this boy's door and you tell him what you just told me. I don't care if it takes you all night."

/

Lydia obeyed her friend and did drive back to Beacon Hills.

It did take her all night. By the time she got back into the neighborhood, it was almost six o'clock in the morning on Christmas day.

She got up on the Stilinski porch in the same clothes that she was a couple hours ago.

To say Stiles was surprised was an understatement.

Lydia launched at him and kissed him passionately, cupping her hands around his face and feeling his hands wrap around her waist.

Their kiss lasted for a minute or two and as Lydia pulled away from him, she pointed above them.

Stiles looked up to see the mistletoe that his father had put up, and just so happened to forget to take down, from last night.

"Stiles Stilinski, I love you. And I realize that that's what I was missing all these years. I was missing you. And I know we've missed a lot together, but I'm hoping that—"

Stiles didn't let her finish. He grabbed her waist again and pressed her up against him, pressing several kisses all over her face and smiling.

"Hey Lydia?"

Lydia stopped her monologue and looked at him in confusion.

"Merry Christmas."

She grinned and pushed him inside his house, kissing him once again.

Lydia was happy; Lydia was home.

"Merry Christmas, Stiles."


End file.
